The Travers Smith process is notably more streamlined than other firms, which is likely to appeal to many. You will face two interviews.
Initial interview with a graduate recruitment partner
Your first interview with a graduate recruitment partner will focus on questions like why you want to practice law, why you want to practice in the UK, what possible downsides you can see in a law career, and some more left-field questions like ‘what company would you like to be CEO of.’
The first interview is described by previous applicants and trainees as ‘different from any I have had before.’ They also highlight that you are likely to face a significant number of moral dilemma questions – these have previously included things like quotas for female partners in firms, as well as the gay bakery case that was in the news a few years ago. There are few competency or technical questions featured in this interview. It appears that the partners are fairly relaxed in this interview, and keen to chat with the applicant at the outset. Applicants have, for example, been asked about other interviews, and been friendly and empathetic when discussing them.
Other questions that are known to have been asked at this stage include:
– Why Travers Smith?
– What legislation would you implement if you could implement anything?
– What would you do if your client lied to the other party about the terms of a transaction – i.e. would you support your client even if you knew that they were lying, and the other party was unaware of this?
- Following on from this, applicants have been asked if they think it is acceptable to lose a client, as they surely would if they chose to go against their client in this situation. However, answers which accepted this as a risk that would need to be faced to maintain integrity were supported.
The Second Interview with Two Graduate Recruitment Partners
This takes place at the London office. It will involve questions about your CV, and go into some depth on this. You should then expect more technical questions about different practice areas, and advice that you would give your clients if you were practising in those particular areas. Other questions that have been posed include moral questions on whether we ought to give monetary incentives to people with addictions. You should also expect to ask questions yourself here, so ensure that you have some prepared.